Limits and the Force of Blood

Submitted into Contest #66 in response to: Write about a contest with life or death stakes.... view prompt

19 comments

Fiction Thriller Contemporary

He had no sooner entered the arena, when he caught sight of Smart smiling at him from the VIP section above the roaring crowd. Everything had been perfect since he woke up that morning. But not anymore, as everything seem to feel wrong. The quirky smile that gave away at the edge of Smart's lips was something he had seen before, and it definitely wasn't something good.

The last time Cosmos saw that smile, he lost his best friend to the cold hands of death, and he can sense that ambience hovering over him again.


As he walked towards the ring, his heart sank with fear and anxiety. He made his way up the short stairs and got into the ring from between the ropes.

His intro music Thunder, by imagine dragons was cut short by the sinister tone of the Zombie dance thriller by Michael Jackson, and the crowd erupted with cheers and excitement. The lights went out, and a moving spotlight travelled west from the north wing of the arena, where it stopped to illuminate a hooded boxer with heads bowed.


Cosmos' fear and anxiety rose a notch higher. Before his very eyes, was the entrance of his opponent, Fijabi, who boasts a record of forty knockouts from forty one fights. He watched Fijabi, as he confidently made his way up into the ring, and he wondered what his chances of winning would be against this ruthless boxer. Say maybe one tenth or probably one twelfth.


"...fair and clean fight, okay", the referees voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah", the two fighters chorused.

The referee signalled the start of the first round, and the sound of the bell echoed to the joy of the eighty two thousand spectators present at the arena.


Cosmos drew extra determination from the sound of the bell, as he knew how high the stakes are if he loses this fight. He started out strongly, dishing out hard punches, and landing some to the face of Fijabi. He followed up with two double jabs, which caused no trouble for the knockout maestro, who was basically soaking up the mounting pressure.

Two punches... Three punches... Two punches... Three punches... Cosmos was on the front foot, and the arena was quiet. Everyone was expecting a Fijabi masterclass, but what was unfolding before their eyes was far different from what they envisaged.


Two punches... Two punches... Three punches... Three punches... and Cosmos has had Fijabi pinned to one angle of the boxing ring. Fijabi's two hands were firmly fixed to his face in a defensive position.

And out of nowhere, a heavy right landed on Cosmos' face which sent him staggering backwards. Two follow up punches landed easily on his defenseless face. Then he felt his brain go numb, from a painful sensation coming from his jaw.


Fijabi had just shocked him with a one - one - two - uppercut combo, and he realized this, only after he found himself sprawling on the ground.

"...five ...six ...seven...", the referee's voice pierced his eardrums and he sprang quickly to his feet.

He could not afford to lose this bout.


[[His brain flashed back to minutes just before the bout.]]

Cosmos, who was all fired up to make an impression in this boxing match against the World Champion, was called aside by his coach.

"There is a problem son".

"What problem?"

"Your Mother has just been taken hostage", he said pitifully.

The shock that swept through Cosmos' body almost made him lose his balance.

"How? Why?..."

"There's been a demand from the kidnappers".

"What do they want?"

"They demand that you defeat Fijabi tonight".

"Is that a joke? What sort of demand is that?", he shouted, sounding very close to tears. "And what if I couldn't?" he asked subtly.

"I don't know. All they said was that you win tonight, you save your Mother."

Cosmos had his face in his hands, and he wished they had taken him, instead of his Mother. With tears flowing freely from his eyes, "No matter what happens, please don't throw in the towel", he urged his Coach, who in turn nodded slowly in agreement.


[[Present moment..]]

His journey back to awareness was truncated by series of punches from Fijabi who was looking to earn a first round knockout. Cosmos was in pain, as he felt the impact of every blow to his face and ribs. He was slowly fizzling out and attempted a hold on Fijabi to buy himself some time. The knockout specialist had anticipated that move, so he sidestepped to evade Cosmos' hold before landing a hard right punch directly on his nose, which sent him falling like a meteor from the sky.

The blood over his face stained the floor, as his nose bled incessantly after taking too many hits.


Meanwhile, Cosmos' mother was at home, surrounded by four hefty looking men. She was in tears as she watched her son receive a heavy beating from a man by far the best boxer alive. She had never supported his venture into boxing. She had always told him that nothing good ever comes out of a fight, but he was adamant.

Now, he had put them both in a very critical situation. Her heart began to pray for her only son. She needed him to win, for she desperately wanted to live.


Back at the arena, the noise was deafening, and Fijabi felt he had dealth Cosmos the knockout punch.

The referee began the count again.

One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... and Cosmos managed to get back on his feet again.

An impatient Fijabi attacked again, but Cosmos was on the defensive. The echo of the bell signalled the end of the first round and Cosmos was able to heave a sigh of relief.


The second round began very much like the first. Cosmos was all out, throwing more punches, but landing only few. Whereas, Fijabi was landing almost every punch he throws. His movement was sleek and much more calculative than Cosmos'. He had thought that this bout would be an easy ride, but he was in for a very big surprise.


Halfway through the second round, Cosmos was already running out of breath. Fijabi decided to capitulate on this factor, and he became much more aggressive with his attacks.

One - two - block... One - two - block... and soon a double left punch made a meal out of Cosmos' feeble legs, and he was on the floor yet again.


"...six ...seven...", and his consciousness returned.

"I would not give in. I will go the twelve rounds. I will win", he said.

He felt a new force sweep across his body, like he was being possessed by a demon of endurance. He could feel less pain as his fear and anxiety suddenly vanished.

"...eight ...nine...?", and he was back up on his feet.

He wiped off the blood that rolled down into his eyeballs from the cut on his forehead, took a sharp glance at Smart in the VIP box and smiled.


He was a different being and he was ready for it all.

To him, the real game was just beginning.


#El_Magnifico™

November 05, 2020 00:41

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19 comments

Pratheeksha R
14:27 Nov 09, 2020

I think this was a good story. It felt like I was there in the Arena cheering for Cosmo. However, instead of directly telling [[Present moment..]] I’d use some other words - maybe “The deafening calls of the audience brought Cosmos back to reality.” I say this because you’re narrating an amazing story and these words hinder a good reading experience. Nonetheless, great job. I hope to read more of your stories. :)

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Emmanuel Olaleye
21:42 Nov 09, 2020

Thank you very much Pratheeksha! I really appreciate this feedback. I'd certainly take to that... And do better next time. Thank you!

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21:47 Jun 21, 2021

What's going to happen? You left me on a cliffhanger, and I know it's a good story because I WANT MORE!!! A couple small critiques: "Imagine Dragons" should be capitalized and doesn't need the italics. Likewise, "Michael Jackson" doesn't need the italics. Great job with this one. I'm rooting for Cosmos (and his mother, for that matter)!

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Emmanuel Olaleye
05:07 Aug 19, 2021

Thank you very much for the wonderful feedback. I've had a little too much on my hands in the past few months, but I'd definitely find time to finish this up.

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15:28 Aug 21, 2021

No problem! It was a pleasure to read. :)

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11:54 Nov 24, 2020

Why do I love Cosmos so much?! You’ve given us a protagonist to root for, against all odds in this boxing extortion tale. Minor dialogue punctuation errors, but the emotional depth and pacing? Magnifique ❤️ “Is that a joke? What sort of demand is that?" he shouted, sounding very close to tears. "And what if I can’t?" he asked desperately.

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Emmanuel Olaleye
09:21 Nov 25, 2020

Desperately!!! Thank you very much for the feedback Deidra. I really appreciate your kind words. I hope to get better with the punctuations too. Bless you Deidra!

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Wolfy 🐺
15:13 Nov 18, 2020

I love how you portray the passage of time, switching from the past to the present day. Excellent job!👍

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Emmanuel Olaleye
21:32 Nov 18, 2020

Thank you Wolfy. I appreciate.

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Wolfy 🐺
21:34 Nov 18, 2020

Np!

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Ben To
14:59 Nov 07, 2020

Fijabi is a monster, but he does have great taste in music. Great story!

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Emmanuel Olaleye
18:48 Nov 07, 2020

Sure he does Ben. Thank you very much. Please I'd like to know what part of the story you liked best.

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Ben To
21:41 Nov 07, 2020

I liked Cosmos's tenacity most, he kept getting up every time he was knocked down. I love to read/watch underdog fight stories so I really enjoyed this one. Great job!

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Emmanuel Olaleye
16:19 Nov 08, 2020

Thank you very much for the feedback Ben. I really appreciate it.

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Jasey Lovegood
21:56 Nov 11, 2020

I really enjoyed reading this story, all your stories are very well written. Here is some feedback and points I picked up: [Thunder, by imagine dragons was cut short by the sinister tone of the Zombie dance thriller by Michael Jackson,] Imagine Dragons is a band name, so they need to be capital letters. Same with Thriller. [and Cosmos has had Fijabi] I don't think you need to have the 'has'. Awesome work!

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Emmanuel Olaleye
11:35 Nov 12, 2020

Oh! Imagine Dragons. I think I omited that while editing. My error. And for the second one... Thank you greatly. I really appreciate you.

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Jasey Lovegood
11:37 Nov 12, 2020

Once again, no problem! (Also I love Imagine Dragons and Thriller) :D

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Emmanuel Olaleye
11:39 Nov 12, 2020

So do I too.

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Jasey Lovegood
20:28 Nov 12, 2020

Nice nice

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